Samuel woke two days after the accident.
Mara learned this from a prison clerk who spoke too casually, as if the information meant nothing.
“He asked for you,” the clerk said.
Mara looked up.
“Samuel?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked whether you had received the photograph.”
“What photograph?”
The clerk shrugged.
“I don't know.”
Mara's heart began beating faster.
“What hospital?”
The clerk hesitated.
Then walked away.
Mara knew immediately that she was not supposed to know.
That was enough.
She spent the next morning thinking about the six numbers Lily had given her.
By afternoon, she had them memorized.
By evening, she had written them on the inside of her sleeve.
The next visitation came unexpectedly.
Daniel was there.
Mara stopped walking when she saw him on the other side of the glass.
He looked older.
His beard was untrimmed.
There was a bruise near his jaw.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Daniel sat.
Mara remained standing.
“Where is Lily?”
“She's with my sister.”
“Why are you here?”
Daniel looked down.
“I need to tell you something.”
“You should have told me eleven months ago.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
He looked up.
Mara's voice remained quiet.
“But I was the one who went to prison.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“No.”
Mara sat.
“You don't know.”
He stared at her.
“You watched me lose everything.”
“I thought I was protecting Lily.”
“From me?”
“From them.”
Mara's eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Daniel looked toward the security camera.
Then back at her.
“Grant.”
Mara felt no surprise.
Only confirmation.
“What did he threaten you with?”
Daniel's hands trembled.
“He had records.”
“What records?”
“Payments.”
“From whom?”
“Companies.”
Mara waited.
Daniel swallowed.
“Grant had been moving money through shell accounts.”
“And you knew?”
“I helped him.”
Mara stared.
The admission landed heavily.
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I don't know the exact amount.”
“Why did you do it?”
“Debt.”
Mara laughed bitterly.
“So you let them frame me.”
“I didn't know they would.”
“You signed the transfer.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What transfer?”
“The one to Grant's account.”
His face changed.
Mara knew she had hit something.
“How did you know?”
“Lily told me.”
Daniel's eyes closed.
“She shouldn't have.”
“She remembered.”
Daniel's voice broke.
“She remembers everything.”
Mara leaned toward the glass.
“The money was transferred two days before my arrest.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let them say I stole it?”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“Because Grant told me if I spoke, Lily would disappear.”
Mara's anger faltered.
“Disappear?”
“He had people.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don't expect anything.”
Daniel reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small photograph.
The guard immediately moved toward him.
Daniel placed the photograph against the glass.
Mara looked.
It showed a storage facility.
Rows of metal doors.
A number was written across the bottom.
214.
Daniel tapped it.
“The box is there.”
Mara stared at him.
“The wooden box?”
Daniel nodded.
“I moved it before the police searched the apartment.”
“Why?”
“Because Grant wanted it.”
“And you kept it?”
“No.”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“I hid it somewhere Grant wouldn't look.”
“Where?”
“Storage unit 214.”
Mara's pulse quickened.
“Who has the key?”
Daniel said nothing.
Mara's eyes narrowed.
“You gave Lily the key.”
Daniel nodded.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know who was watching.”
Mara leaned back.
For eleven months, she had believed Daniel had abandoned her.
Now she understood something more complicated.
He had betrayed her.
Then become afraid of the people he betrayed her for.
That did not erase what he had done.
It only explained the shape of it.
“Does Grant know about the storage unit?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
“Because he's looking.”
Mara stared at him.
“How do you know?”
“He came to my house yesterday.”
“And?”
“He asked about Lily.”
Mara's hands went cold.
“Where is she now?”
“My sister's.”
“Is she safe?”
“I think so.”
“You think?”
Daniel looked at her.
“I can't protect her anymore.”
Mara's jaw tightened.
“You should have thought about that before.”
“I did.”
“No. You thought about yourself.”
Daniel looked down.
“You're right.”
Mara had expected an argument.
A defense.
An excuse.
Instead, he accepted it.
That made the room quieter.
After a moment, Daniel said, “The notebook proves the money wasn't yours.”
“What's in it?”
“Names.”
“Which names?”
“Everyone involved.”
Mara's heart began pounding.
“Mine?”
“No.”
“Yours?”
Daniel looked away.
“Yes.”
“Grant?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone in law enforcement?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Mara understood.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Daniel.”
“I don't know.”
The guard announced that five minutes remained.
Daniel reached into his pocket again.
This time he removed a small folded piece of paper.
He pressed it against the glass.
Mara read the words.
LOCKER 214. SECOND KEY UNDER THE CLOCK.
Her eyes lifted.
“The clock.”
Daniel nodded.
“The old clock.”
“The one at the apartment?”
“Yes.”
“But you said the box was in storage.”
“It is.”
“Then what's behind the clock?”
Daniel looked frightened.
“A copy.”
“Copy of what?”
“The notebook.”
Mara felt the pieces finally begin to form a picture.
Original notebook in storage.
Copy hidden behind the clock.
Bank transfer before her arrest.
Grant involved.
Daniel involved.
A witness who was now terrified.
And Lily, a four-year-old child, had somehow become the keeper of the one clue everyone else had failed to destroy.
Mara stood.
“You need to get Lily somewhere safe.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She pointed at him.
“You don't know.”
Daniel met her eyes.
“If Grant comes near her again, you tell someone.”
“Who?”
Mara had no answer.
The question hung between them.
Then Daniel whispered, “Your attorney.”
“Samuel is in the hospital.”
Daniel's face changed.
“He was attacked?”
“Car accident.”
Daniel stared at her.
“That wasn't an accident.”
Mara felt the blood drain from her face.
“You know who did it?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
Daniel looked toward the security camera.
“Because the same thing happened to me.”
Mara looked at the bruise on his jaw.
“You were attacked?”
“Two nights ago.”
“By Grant?”
“I never saw his face.”
The guard moved closer.
“Time.”
Mara ignored him.
“Daniel.”
He leaned toward the glass.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“Don't trust anyone who tells you the case is finished.”
The guard stepped between them.
Daniel stood.
Mara remained seated.
As he was led away, he turned once.
His lips moved.
Mara read them.
Storage.
Unit.
Two-one-four.
That night, an officer came to Mara's cell.
He held a small evidence bag.
Inside was the silver key Lily had brought to the visitation.
Mara stared.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
The officer looked uncomfortable.
“It was released.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
Mara took the bag.
The key felt cold through the plastic.
There was something else inside.
A tiny strip of paper.
Mara unfolded it.
Three words were written in hurried handwriting.
NOT THE BOX.
She read them again.
Then turned the paper over.
On the back was a second message.
THE CLOCK.
Mara sat on her bunk.
For the first time, she understood the real danger.
The box was not the secret.
The box was what someone wanted everyone to believe mattered.
The clock was where the truth had been hidden.
And somewhere outside those prison walls, someone was already searching for it.
Mara closed her hand around the evidence bag.
She had spent eleven months trying to prove she was innocent.
Now she had a different task.
She had to find the truth before the person who buried it found Lily.
Click Here to continue read next: PART5: The Clock Holds a Second Copy of the Notebook, but Reaching It Means Trusting Someone Mara Once Had Every Reason to Fear
She Had Thirty Minutes to Convince the Child Behind the Glass That She Had Not Abandoned Her
Part 4 of 8
